Addition of Clofazimine Enhances the Activity of Standard Treatment Regimen in a Mouse Model of Tuberculous Meningitis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41729737.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1093/infdis/jiag123 and PMC identifier 13094629.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Tuberculous meningitis causes substantial mortality due to limited penetration of antibiotics to the central nervous system and excessive neuroinflammation. This study evaluated clofazimine as an adjunct to the standard first-line tuberculosis regimen, in a mouse model. Mice were infected intracerebrally with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and treated for six weeks. Addition of clofazimine markedly reduced the brain bacterial burden, achieving measurable brain tissue concentrations despite minimal cerebrospinal fluid penetration, as well as attenuated brain tissue inflammation. These findings indicate that clofazimine enhances bactericidal activity of the standard regimen and mitigate neuroinflammation, supporting further investigation and clinical evaluation for tuberculous meningitis.